And now, unless Delaware turns crack detective to uncover the truth, Gina Dickinson will be just one more victim of a cold fury that has already spawned madness and murder. But before Alex Delaware can even begin to soothe his former patient’s fears, Gina, a recluse for twenty, disappears. and Melissa is terrified that the monster has returned to hurt Gina again. Now her acid wielding assailant is out of prison and back in L.A. Twenty years ago, Gina Dickinson, Melissa’s mother, suffered a grisly assault that left the budding actress irreparably scarred and emotionally crippled. Only this time it looks like Melissa’s deepest childhood nightmare is really coming true… Now the lovely young heiress is desperately calling for psychologist’s help once more. It is eleven years since seven years old Melissa Dickinson dialed a hospital help line for comfort and found it in therapy with Alex Delaware. And in Alex Delaware’s future is the stuff of grown up nightmares: the face of real human evil.

In the dead sniper’s past was a dark and vicious plot. Then suddenly it is more than a pattern it is a trail of blood.

What was the identity behind the name and face: a would be assassin, or just another victim beneath an indifferent California sky? Intrigued by a request from the sniper’s father to conduct a ‘psychological autopsy’ of his child, Alex begins to uncover a strange pattern of innocence, neglect, and loss. While the TV news crews feasted on the scene an Alex began his therapy sessions with the traumatized children, he couldn’t escape the image of a slight teenager clutching an oversized rifle. Alex Delaware reached the school the damage was done: A sniper had opened fire on a crowded playground, but was gunned down before any children were hurt. Edgar Award winner Jonathan Kellerman once more explores the corruption of California’s golden coast and produces a novel of complex characterizations and nonstop suspense.

Over the edge kellerman